Throughout time, man has collected shells in nature and has exhibited them as decorative articles. Some of them have a shape such that their aesthetic aspect (for example, the mother of pearl which adorns the inside of the shell) may be displayed, even when they are simply placed on a plane surface. Bivalves, for example, lend themselves very well to this type of simple presentation, and likewise ormers.
Many gastropods have a shell in the form of a cone, spirally coiled about a central line known as the columella. Murices are a particularly well-known example of this very widespread type of shell. They are more difficult to show to advantage because of their irregular form.
Several types of pedestal or other display stands to exhibit shells are already known.
Inter alia, display stands having metal wires which grip around certain parts of the shell and thus maintain it in a certain position in relation to the support are known. Very often, however, a technique of this type makes it impossible to exhibit the shell with an orientation which seems the most advantageous. Furthermore, the metal securing wires spoil the aesthetic appearance.
According to another technique, the shell is hung from a metal wire which is itself integral with a pedestal or another support. With this method, the shell is damaged since it is necessary to pierce it with at least one small hole to enable it to be attached to the wire. It will be understood that securing of this type is generally quite fragile.
A technique which makes it possible to exhibit a shell in any predetermined position consists in coating it completely in a transparent resin such as polymethyl methacrylate. This technique is not only expensive, but this presentation seems particularly artificial and furthermore makes the shell permanently inaccessible.
According to another technique, only a small part of the shell is coated in a block of resin which forms its pedestal. This technique is also difficult and expensive and, as sometimes presentation is not particularly aesthetic it may prove necessary to hide the block of resin inside another decorative article.
However, the most common type of display stand for a shell to date is a pedestal which consists of a solid block of wood or stone (for example, marble) on which the shell is secured by means of a small amount of adhesive. This type of securing of the shell on the display stand is not only fragile, in most cases, but also the shell can usually not be secured on the pedestal by one of its protuberances. Where--in order to increase the strength of the securing--the amount of adhesive is increased, said adhesive remains visible between the shell and its pedestal, which spoils the aesthetic appearance.